The officers and directors of a company tend to have a unique inside view into the business, so when these insiders make purchases, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason for a company insider to choose to take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. Within the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, only seven companies have experienced such buying over the trailing six month period, one of which was Merck & Co Inc (Symbol: MRK), where an investment totaling $1.3M was made by Director Douglas M. Baker Jr.. Click Here to Learn Which Other Six Dow Components Also Had Recent Insider Buying »
| Purchased | Insider | Title | Shares | Price/Share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/05/2025 | Douglas M. Baker Jr. | Director | 15,000 | $88.50 | $1,327,500.00 |
Baker Jr.'s average cost works out to $88.50/share. In trading on Tuesday, bargain hunters could buy shares of Merck & Co Inc (Symbol: MRK) and achieve a cost basis lower than Baker Jr., with shares changing hands as low as $85.73 per share. Shares of Merck & Co Inc were changing hands at $85.83 at last check, trading down about 0.7% on Tuesday. The chart below shows the one year performance of MRK shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, MRK's low point in its 52 week range is $85.73 per share, with $134.63 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $85.83.
The current annualized dividend paid by Merck & Co Inc is $3.24/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend has an upcoming ex-date of 03/17/2025. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for MRK, which can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend with approx. 3.8% annualized yield is likely to continue.
Click here to find out which other top insider buys by company directors you need to know about »
Also see:
Dow Component Preferreds
RIVR Videos
Funds Holding HEWU
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
